Mounting for musical instrument reed



United States Patent Inventor Norman B. Stevens 3709 Calle Cita, Santa Barbara, California 93 105 Appl. No. 722,740

Filed April 19, 1968 Patented Aug. 11, 1970 MOUNTING FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENT REED 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 84/383 Int. Gl0d 9/02 Field of Search 84/383, 386

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,411,563 4/1922 Clark 84/383 i,525,430 2/1925 Livingston... 84/383 2,181,880 12/1939 Fauss 84/383 2,292,584 8/1942 Tafarella 84/383 2,495,484 1/1950 Schemenauer. 84/383 3,057,243 10/1962 Jaquith...; 84/383 Primary Examiner Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner- John F. Gonzales Att0rney- Evert A. Autrey ABSTRACT: A mouthpiece for a clarinet or other beating reed musical instrument is provided with a resilient inlay at the reed mounting surface.

Patented Aug. 11, 197 0 INVENTOR ORMAN B. STEVENS ms ATTORNEY 3 v 1 MOUNTING FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENT REED This invention relates generally to mechanical reed musical instruments, such as clarinets and saxophones among others,

stream thereby producingamusical sound. The intermittent puffs of air .re'sulting from the throttling action are, of course, sound with a fundamental frequency corresponding to the frequency'of the pulsing air. The acoustical output of the reed assembly is usually coupled to a resonant air column.

The analysis of the action of a reed in musical instrument is complex; the mathematical treatment is usually restricted to consideration of the reed as a bar clamped in a rigid support at one end with the other end free, and waveforms other than transverse are neglected, see Olson, Music, Physics and Engineering, Dover Publications, 1967. Analyses of this sort ex plain many properties of vibrating reeds in a satisfactory manner and the mouthpiece and reed assembly of conventional clarinets and saxophones, for example, does consist essentially of a thin blade free to vibrate and is provided with a mounting end which is indeed solidly clamped to a rigid support. It has now been found, however, that longitudinal waves and other secondary effects of vibrating reeds are important in tone production, and that the manner in which the reed is clamped significantly. modifies reed behavior. A resilient'supporting surface at the mounting end of the reed enables it to perform better in at least two ways. First,,a reed on a resilient support may be set in motion faster and more readily than a reed which is clamped to a rigid surface. The resulting fast attack makes it possible to execute faster passages and the instrument is more responsive generally, while the increased ease in initiating vibration means that the tones will be easier to produce and that there will be fewer problem notes to contend with over the entire range of the instrument. Secondly, the tonal quality may be changed through the use of a resilient mounting so that the sound is more resonant, an effect which is particularly apparent and desired in the lower range of the clarinet.

A variety of materials have been used in the past to form the body of instrument mouthpieces, with relatively rigid substances such a hard rubber being in common use. Rigid ligatures, usually of metal, are used for holding the reed in position on the mouthpiece. Attempts to improve mouthpieces heretofore have involved increasing the rigidity of thestructure as by the incorporation of metal inlays at the reed mounting surface.

In the instant invention the reed mounting surface is formed of a relatively soft resilient material. As a further improvement, the reed is held in position on the resilient mounting surface by a ligature having a resilient surface bearing on the reed.

An object of the invention is to provide a resilient mounting surface having a controlled compliance for a vibrating musical instrument reed.

A further object is to provide a reed mounting'structure wherein the reed is held between resilient surfaces.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of his invention will be readily appreciated as the same. becomes better understood by reference to the following description.

FIG. I is a perspective view of a musical instrument mouthpiece and reed mounting surface embodying theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the mouthpiece and reed mounting surface shown in FIG. l with the addition of a reed; 1

and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a reed and mounting surface thereforand which is provided with a ligature, shown-as partially cut away, havingres'ilient'reed'contacting'surfaces.

Referring to the FIGURES, -a clarinet mouthpiece 10 is shown having a reed beating surface 12 and having a reed mounting surface formed primarily of resilient material 14. Reed 16 is provided with a mounting end 18 and a beating end 5 20. Recess 22 is bounded by ridges 24 at the front and rear ends which serve to hold resilient material 14 in place and also establish a reference level for the reed mounting surface. The improved mouthpiece may be fabricated by-taking a conven tional mouthpiece, machining away hard material to form recess 22 with a depth of about 0.05", and refilling the recess with a rubberlike 'material having a Shore durometer hardness (A scale) of about 65. Material having a range of hardness values is useful depending upon the effect desired; it has been found that as the hardness value increases, the tone quality approaches thatof an unaltered mouthpiece while values less than about 40 result in loss of overtone content, or brilliance of tonal qualityylt has also been found that within limits a soft resilient material in a shallow recess-is the equivalent of a harder material in a deeper recess. A resilientreed mounting surface may be formed conveniently by depositing a slight excess of a room curing Silastic resin, with appropriate curing catalyst, in the formed recess. The mouthpiece is then placed with the reed mounting surface down on a flat Teflon coated plate and allowed to cure for approximately twenty-four hours. After curing, the rough edges are trimmed with a sharp knife without touching the reed seating surface. The Silastic has different resilience characteristics for different frequencies. At low frequencies the inlayis relatively soft, so the reed is free to vibrate and a resonant tone quality is pronounced. At' higher frequencies, the Silastic is effectively somewhat harder so that the tone quality is pure and clear. A resonant woody quality in the lower register, a clarity and pureness of tone in the higher register, a short attack time over the entire range, and an increased responsivity over the entire range of the instrument are desired features of a silicone rubber reed mounting surface.

The transducer system shown in FIG. 3 includes a ligature 26 which is provided with resilient pad 28 about .05 thick where contact is made with the mounting end of the reed. Pad 28 may be made of rubber or Silastic or other rubberlike materials so that the reed mounting end may be held securely in place while-being permitted to vibrate freely. The improvement in tonal quality and response with the resilient ligature pad is readily noted but does not, of course, amount to the degree of improvement obtained when a resilient reed mounting surface is substituted for the conventional solid mouthpiece. I

A mouthpiece made in accordance with the invention may be placed on the instrument with which it is to be used and the reed adjusted in substantially the same manner as conventional mouthpieces are mounted and used.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present v I invention are possible in the light of the above teachings.

lclaim:

l. A transducer for converting air stream energy to acoustic. holding means for securing the mounting end of said I reed to said resilient mounting surface. 2. A transducer for converting air stream energy to acoustical energy comprising; i I

a. a reed having a beating end and a mounting end, b. a resilient reed mounting surface of Silastic rubber, and c. holding means for securing the mounting .end of said reed to said resilient mounting surface. 3. A transducer .for convertingair stream energy to acoustical energy comprising:

a. a reed having a beating end and a mounting end, b. A silicon polymer resilient reed mounting surface, and c. holding means for securing the mounting end of said reed to said resilient mounting surface.

14. A transducer for converting air stream energy to acousti 15 .cal'en'ergy comprising:

a. a reed having a beating end and a mounting end, reed to said resilient mounting surface comprising a b. a resilient reed mounting surface of a silicone polymer ligature having a Silastic rubber resilient surface where having a compliance differing for different frequency said reed is contacted. v

vibrations, and 6. A transducer for converting air steam energy to acoustic. holding means for securing the mounting end of said 5 Cal n rgy mP iIIgI I reed to said resilient mounting surface. a. a reed having a beating end and a mounting end,

5. A transducer for converting air stream energy to acoustia resilient reed mounting Surface having a Shore cal energy comprinsing: rometer (A scale) hardness of 40 to 80, and

a d h i a b i end and a mounting end, c. holding means for securing the mounting end of said 1,. a resilient reed mounting surface h l0 reed to said resilient mounting surface.

c. holding means for securing the mounting end of said 

